Alex Smith Joins Rare Company with Flawless Start Through 5 Weeks

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith helped lead his team to a 42-34 victory over the Houston Texans on Sunday, connecting on 29 of 37 passes for 324 yards and three touchdowns.

In doing so, he joined just two other quarterbacks as the only three in NFL history "with at least 11 touchdown passes and zero interceptions through their team's first five games of a season," per NFL Communications. The other two QBs to achieve the feat are Steve Bartkowski (1983 Atlanta Falcons) and Roman Gabriel (1969 Los Angeles Rams).

The one-two punch of the veteran signal-caller Smith and rookie sensation Kareem Hunt have guided the Chiefs to an undefeated record through five weeks. Smith has not finished with a losing record in any season since 2010, when the San Francisco 49ers went just 3-7 in his 10 starts.

Over the past seven years, Smith has been an effective presence under center. Across that stretch, he's completed 65.2 percent of his passes for 19,838 yards, 117 TDs, 38 picks and a 65-25-1 record. He can scramble outside of the pocket as well, averaging 302 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns per 16 games over that timeframe.

Next up for the Chiefs are the Pittsburgh Steelers, who will be coming into town attempting to ruin Smith's league-high 125.8 quarterback rating. Based on the Steelers' defensive numbers through five weeks, it's definitely a possibility. They're No. 1 in the league in fewest passing yards given up (698), second in the league in fewest passing TDs allowed (three) and eighth in the NFL for interceptions forced (five).